The Water Training Institute Set to Launch Its Certified Managed Print Services Seller(TM) Sales Training and Certification Program [CMPSS(TM)]

It was only a matter of time. 

I have never heard of the Water Group. For 2 years now I have been scouring the internet looking for any mention of "managed print services" and today is the first time this group pops up. 

No surprise, "where the is mystery, there is margin...". 

Today's mystery is MPS and as much as I believe there are a few "unique" aspects to selling MPS, selling is selling. Well, "solution selling" is "solution selling". One thing is for sure, this group is not short on content. 

And although the content looks and sounds good, I still can't help but be skeptical about anyone claiming to be in MPS for more than 11 years - that would be...since when, 1996?

Somebody help me out, were copiers even digital back then? Wasn't Apple running "ads" showing the difference between an Apple and PC user?(see above) 

Was I using a Palm Pilot back then? 

Didn't Office 97 ship on 45, 3.5-inch floppy's back then? 

And don't remember anybody offering to manage a fleet of IBM-Pro Printer; service and ribbons that is. And as I read through their squeaky new, freshly painted website, I could not help to think "HP"; it has the look and smell of SPS, which pretty much, well...smells. 

And then there is this, 

"...The team of Water Training Institute associates whom have designed and will deliver the Certified Managed Print Services Seller(TM) program curriculum have collectively sold nearly $1Billion in MPS business...Collectively, our brain-trust have more experience and success in sales and selling MPS than probably anyone in the world...” 

Wow...I mean...wow. Go ahead, divide $1billion by 0.0120 and then divide that by 11 years...whaddya get? I don't know, I ain't doing it. Of course, these numbers are accurate, you can't put it out there like that if it ain't true - but then again, it all depends on how one defines "MPS", doesn't it? 

According to their documentation, there are 5 separate modules of training - one is webinar-based and the test module is $500.00 and must be attached to Module #3, "In-Class Certified Managed Print Services Seller Program" If taken individually, the total cost is $4,975.00 - but act now by enrolling for September's classes, and the price goes to $2,490.00. 

These guys know how to market. 

At the recent MPS Conference, the most popular "off-line" conversational subject was "...can someone tell me how to effectively put an MPS Practice together?" Maybe this can be a great first step for rookie salespeople - or maybe even old "salts" of the copier world can get trained on moving "solutions" instead of boxes. Or better yet, perhaps some "Sales Reps" with IT VARs can get acclimated to real solution selling by attending and getting certified. 

But I keep going back to what one of my old sales managers once told me, "...sometimes we just overcomplicate what we do..." - FIVE modules? Oh well, if I could get HP or CISCO or VMWARE to pay for it, I would go. 

Here is the Press Release: 

Voorhees, NJ, May 07, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Beginning September 16, 2009, The Water Training Institute (a division of Water, a New Jersey-based Professional Services firm) will offer the Certified Managed Print Services Seller(TM) Sales Training & Certification Program, designed for sales professionals that sell and promote Managed Print Services solutions. 

Managed Print Services (MPS) is a solution that bundles office printers, copiers/MFPs, fax solutions, software, services, supplies, consumables, usage tracking, support, and management all for a single monthly invoice. 

The CMPSS(TM) program is designed to provide sales professionals with a thorough understanding of MPS, comprehensive MPS sales training, a tailored MPS sales acumen evaluation & development plan for each participant, and a Certification Exam that – combined with the other aspects of the program - would substantiate that the successful candidate has demonstrated a certain standard of MPS sales performance and comprehension. 

 According to Jon Reiser, a Principal at Water, “Our customers tell us the Managed Print Services sales training seminars they send their sales reps to are ineffective and don’t really prepare the reps to effectively sell MPS solutions. 

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So they hire Water to come in, re-train the sales reps properly, get them prepared, and give the managers a written analysis of each sales rep’s preparedness to sell MPS. In the end, the customers end up paying twice for something they should have gotten in the first place.

Click to email me.

N.Y. Times to File Notice It Will Close Boston Globe

Gray Lady Down -

"From the moment the Times Co. purchased The Globe in 1993, it has treated New England's largest newspaper like a cheap whore," former Globe columnist Eileen McNamara wrote last month in the Herald.

"It pimped her out for profit during the booming 1990s and then pillaged her when times got tough. It closed her foreign bureaus and cheapened her coverage of everything from the fine arts to the hard sciences."

So it continues, from Denver to Detroit to Boston to New York - a main staple of news and one-way communication is vanishing.

Truly remarkable times.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Death of Print Continues -

Wednesday, December 31, 2008
2009: The End of Print - Andrew Keen

Synergy, Down Under: HP Edgeline's and Pull Printing Save Money, Energy and Paper

Less energy, no toner. CM8060's and CM4730's - not bad.

Synergy out of Australia.

Synergy building services manager Wayne Perry says, the company had about 80 printers in use.

Most were laser printers, which were turned on all the time to keep the toner cartridges warm and usable. After researching and testing a range of options, they decided to adopt a new fleet of multifunction devices from HP.

"One multifunction printer uses less energy than five laser printers," Perry says. This made them a logical choice.

The company has also opted to introduce a "pull-printing" environment to reduce print wastage. "When I print now, I issue the print command, that goes to the print queue and is held on a central server that all the printers access," Perry says.

"To actually print the documents requested, Synergy employees walk to a printer and swipe their building access card in order to execute the printing. "This has really cut down on paper usage."

Full article, here.

ATM Book Machine launches in London

Just when I thought "Print is Dead" along comes this thing - the Espresso Book Machine.

Billed as the most revolutionary development in books for 500 years, this machine can print a bound version of nearly 500,000 titles.

Each in five minutes, while the customer waits.

Currently available titles are out of print, but the creator of the machine is looking to work deals with publishers and hope to get a list of around 1 million titles available.

The applications are mind boggling.

Airport bookstores, magazine racks, college bookstores and the traditional bookstore could be all wrapped up into one, somewhat large, coin operated, vending machine.

The NewStand of the future. Kindles some thought, doesn't it?

Connect this little hummer to the "cloud" and you have yourself the future of print - on demand and nearly anyplace on the planet.

The PrinterNet?




OnDemandBooks

HP and RIM Announce Strategic Alliance to Mobilize Business on BlackBerry

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 4, 2009

HP and Research In Motion (RIM)(Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced they are establishing a strategic alliance to deliver a portfolio of solutions for business mobility on the BlackBerry® platform.

HP CloudPrint for BlackBerry Smartphones

HP CloudPrint for BlackBerry smartphones is a web services based solution that allows users to print emails, documents, photos and web pages using a BlackBerry smartphone, wherever they are – in the office, at home or on the road.

The CloudPrint service enables mobile users to easily print to the nearest printer. The service is printer-agnostic and driverless and requires simple Internet access. HP and RIM plan to make CloudPrint available to BlackBerry Internet Service subscribers as well as BlackBerry Enterprise Server customers.

The CloudPrint technology was invented by HP Labs, the company’s central research arm.

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In addition to the CloudPrint technology, HP's EDS Mobile Services will be available to help manage Blackberry's - they currently managed 500,000 Blackberry's.

And HP's Proliant servers are being pitched to support corporate Blackberry applications and HP's Operations Manager for BlackBerry Enterprise Server, is a software solution that helps centrally manage and monitor the entire Blackberry ecosystem, whether it is virtual or physical - servers, applications, mail servers, databases, etc.

It looks like a complete HP/Blackberry, business system.

Friday is FunDay: Optimus Prime, this had to be done.

What you are about to see is Top Secret...Do not tell my mother...

OfficeMax: ***CORRECTION*** I DO Remember Seeing Someone From OfficeMax at the Managed Print Services Conference

****** CORRECTION ********

David Peterson, Director of Sales, OfficeMax was in attendance at the MPS Conference, and I did speak with them - my apologies!

So, what can be determined by this?

OfficeMax gets it.

They get the whole MPS approach and are leveraging their customer relationships. And not only with MPS but also as a MSP.

Lawton Smith and Darrell Amy's discussion resonates once more - the advance MPS providers are ready to hop-scotch over to the MSP role.

And now, I need to wipe the egg off my face.

During the OfficeMax earnings call today, Sam Martin – Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer regarding Managed Print Services said, "...The idea is to collaborate with customers and maximize their office supply savings with OfficeMax through analytics.

This value proposition then opens the door to approach the customer with related spend categories as well as non-traditional areas in which we have expertise such as managed print and data center services..."

Furthermore, Martin adds, "...We believe that a deeper business relationship results in better retention...Our relationship with Young has evolved from basic office supplies procurement into a broader solution which includes managed print services.

Print is not a core activity for Young and they viewed OfficeMax as having a best-in-class solution that met their needs.

Other categories where OfficeMax has expanded its relationship with Young include certain data center services and other supply categories not originally priced with OfficeMax. Currently less than half of our business with the Young brand is traditional office supply procurement..."
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On the OfficeMax Managed Print Services website, they use phrases like "scalable end to end solutions" and "...across all manufacturers...". On the site, they even say, "...We'll help manage all your print and multi-function machine supplies and coordinate the installation, servicing and redeployment of your hardware..."

In one session at the MPS Conference, Lawton Smith explained how Managed Print Services will one day soon be enveloped into the Managed Services Provider's portfolio of services.

And suddenly, out of nowhere, OfficeMax is pitching just that.

***** CORRECTION ********

OfficeMax was in attendance at the MPS Conference - my apologies!

The complete transcript here.